


Was Your Heart Beat Steady? (Don't Drag This On And On)

by Krasimer



Series: The Summerhold Chronicles [8]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: And was a police officer in Texas in the 70s, Backstory, F/M, Giving minor characters backstory, Johnny and Walker are related, Johnny was an unlucky teenager in the same place at the same time, M/M, Walker is Johnny's father, because it fits very neatly into my story canon.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 23:23:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5559802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Johnny swallowed nervously, then shook his head, rubbing harshly at his eyes. "I'm a ghost, I shouldn't be crying. Why am I crying?"</p><p>Danny pulled back, floating upright as he turned to stare at the other. "There's something you haven't remembered yet. I mean, I'm actually kind of surprised that you haven't, because you've had plenty of contact with him since he took on the job, but hey, it happens that way sometimes." he put a hand on Johnny's shoulder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Was Your Heart Beat Steady? (Don't Drag This On And On)

A door slammed after two males went through it, the younger of the two stomping his way towards a different part of the house. 

"Geez, dad, you couldn't just take my word for it, could you!" the teenager snarled, his fists clenched at his sides as he paused, whipping around to look at the elder. "I mean, it's not like it was that bad of a party even, the worst thing anyone was even doin' was drinkin'!"

"Listen here, young man, I will not have you talkin' back to me!" The older male shouted back, his own fists clenching in anger. "You're grounded for the next two weeks if you say another word," he paused, as if daring his son to say anything back, breathing heavily through his nose. When he saw the boy taking a breath as if to do just that, he frowned, glaring at him. "Don't you dare, Jonathan Walker!"

"Dare what? Be happy? Just because you can't, even with all your stupid rules, doesn't mean that no one else can, dad!" the teen's chest was heaving with the pace of his outbursts, his breath coming in gushes and bursts, his hands waving wildly. "It didn't keep mom alive and it won't keep me from doin' somethin' stupid in the end, and you know it!"

Both of them paused, faces pale as they glanced at each other. 

"...I'm sorry." the boy whispered an apology, curling in on himself and rubbing self consciously at the elbow of the arm he had pinned at his side with his other hand. "I shouldn't-" he turned away, heading for the stairs. "G'night dad."

The older man just stood there, eyes wide and filled with fear and panic. "Jonathan-"

"It's Johnny, dad. I haven't been Jonathan since-" he trailed off, green eyes staring up at his father.

"...Good night, Johnny. I want you to go to school tomorrow. I have a review coming up soon, and it would be the biggest help if you followed that rule for once." 

He didn't get an answer as his son walked up the stairs, footsteps oddly soft despite the motorcycle boots he still wore. Slowly, the oldest member of the Walker family took off his jacket, hanging it up on the rack next to the door as he pulled off his uniform. Running careful fingers over the police badge, he sighed.

When he pulled off his shoes, he slid them into their spot next to the door, his shoulders curling in on themselves, much like his son's had just a few minutes before. With just as quiet footsteps, he made his way into a small room at the back of the house, settling himself into the chair at the desk. He pulled a framed photo of a blonde woman with brilliantly green eyes towards him, running his thumb over her face. 

"Margaret, what am I going to do with him?" the uniform shirt he still wore, nametag attached reading 'Kenneth Walker', wrinkled slightly as he leaned back in the chair, still holding the photo of his deceased wife.

The papers on his desk detailing the drunken accident that had caused her death, he fell asleep in his chair.

 

The next morning, when Kenneth woke, he let out a noise of surprise as he shifted and found a blanket tucked around him, a plate of food on the desk with a note.

His hands were empty, the photo having been placed gently back on the desk.

Sitting up and groaning at the pains in his back, Kenneth reached for the note, a soft smile twisting his lips as he read it, a careful finger running over his son's handwriting. 

"Going to school today, swear it. Eat some food, old man, and stop sleeping in your desk chair. It's bad for your back."

When he checked the clock, it told him cheerfully that it was still before ten, and that he had an hour or so before he had to report for his shift at the station. A sigh escaped him as he stood, stretching himself out and leaning on the edge of his desk for a moment before pulling up the plate, taking a forkful into his mouth as he made his way through the house. The eggs and sausages were a little cold, but he would survive.

The important thing was the absence of his son's backpack and the presence of his motorcycle.

"He's a good boy..." Kenneth muttered, nodding happily.

 

XxXxX

 

"Wait, so your dad actually nagged at you for the party last night?" 

Her voice was soft, an attempt to go unnoticed by the teacher looming at the front of the room. The curls that surrounded her face were as soft as her tone, bleached blonde but otherwise natural. The look on her face was worried, and her eyes were wide in a sort of terror at the very notion of being caught. 

"Yeah, but don't worry about it." he smiled back at her, leaning over enough to catch her hand in his own. "Ain't a big thing, Kitty. Dad'll cool off in a few days, and I did somethin' this mornin' that'll help with that.

Kitty smiled, the worry seeping out of her features as her fingers tightened around his.

"Mister Walker, Miss Pauling, is there something you want to share with the class?" the teacher came to a stop in front of them, her foot tapping on the floor impatiently. Her arms were crossed over her chest, an eyebrow raised as she stared between the two teenagers. 

"No ma'am." Both of them dutifully responded, hands slipping apart. 

She raised her chin, making a derisive sound before turning around to walk away. Before she could move too far, a sliver of shadow at the leg of Johnny's desk wrapping around her ankle and knocking her to the ground. 

At his side, Kitty gasped, her delicate hands raised to cover her mouth.

Johnny's jaw dropped as he recoiled in his seat, going stiff with fear as the teacher shouted, a stream of obscene words flowing from her mouth.

"Someone get the nurse!"

"Did Johnny just trip the teacher?"

"Oh my god."

The shadow disappeared before anyone but Johnny and Kitty could see it, wrapping itself back into the darkness caused by his backpack. 

"Johnny Thirteen strikes again..." came a whisper from one of his classmates, another arriving back in the room with the nurse and principal just behind. A hush fell over the room as the principal took in the scene, from the petrified teenagers to the still-shouting teacher.

"Son," he began, pointing towards the door. "My office. Now."

Nodding dumbly, Johnny grabbed his bag and jacket, stumbling around the legs of his chair and desk. When Kitty grabbed his shirt, eyes wide and her head shaking slowly from side to side, he gave her a nervous smile before pulling away. 

"Miss Katherine Pauling, if you would like to be in my office as well, I'd be more than happy to accommodate you. Don't make this worse for yourself." 

She shrunk back, eyes focused intently on her knees, fingers curling into the ripped tights she wore.

"Jonathan Walker." the principal began, steepling his fingers in front of himself on the desk. "I have been the Principal of this school for thirty years now, and I have never seen a student in this office as much as I have seen you here. I've never had as trouble-making a student as you, not in all my years as an administrator."

"I didn't trip her up." Johnny said quietly, his bag balanced on his lap.

The man ignored him, continuing on as if he hadn't spoken at all. "This is the twentieth time in the last six weeks that you've been in here, Jonathan. I am afraid, young man, that this means I need to call your father."

Johnny winced, hugging his bag tightly, nails digging in to the fabric. 

"Do you know where he is right now?" the man picked up the phone. 

"...He's at work." Johnny admitted, looking away as a sinking feeling filled his gut. "He has a review today, so he might not be the one who answers. It goes through the front desk before it goes anywhere else."

"Thank you for the honesty, son." the numbers were dialed smoothly, leaving Johnny with nothing to do besides wait for the explosion that he knew was coming.

 

XxXxX

 

Going home was tense.

His father's car was sitting in the driveway, next to the motorcycle he had slaved over the restoration of, and he could see his father sitting on the steps. The man was curled in on himself, and it felt like a rabbit-quick punch to the gut to see his father like that.

"Dad?"

Kenneth Walker raised his head, eyes narrowed as he looked at his son. "All I asked was that you followed the rules for once." he said, his voice even despite the hurt in his eyes.

"I didn't trip her, you've got to believe me." Johnny's hands were clenched around the strap of his bag. "Dad, I didn't even have my feet out in front of me. They were tucked under my chair, and I never-"

"I wish I could believe you, Jonathan." Kenneth sighed, his broad shoulders slipping down a notch. "I'm sending you to Boot Camp."

"What?"

He stood up, his back popping as he loomed over his son's head. "I'm sorry. There's just nothing else I can do. You keep getting into fights, tripping teachers and just- There is a limit to what I can handle from you, kid. And I've reached it. You're my son, and I love you, but you need to understand that you can't just act out whenever there's something wrong."

"But I'm not actin' out!" Johnny protested, feeling the first flame of anger rising up. "I never have! It's that shadow I keep seeing! I've tried tellin' you a million times, and you've never listened!"

Kenneth shook his head, rubbing at his brow for a moment before slicing the air with the side of his hand. "No, that's enough. No argument. You're going to the Camp tonight, I've already called and arranged it."

"But-"

"I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Johnny drew back, eyes wide at the outburst, then glared at him. Without another word, he ran around his father, stomping his way up the stairs to his room. When the door slammed behind him, Kenneth winced.

An hour passed, then two, with Kenneth on the couch. 

The house was silent except for the large man's breathing. His hands were clasped together in front of his mouth, his eyes shut in a silent prayer. Finally he moved, heading for the stairs and up towards his son's room. There, he knocked on the door, clearing his throat. "Jona- Johnny?"

No answer came, and he sighed. 

"Look, I know I was a little harsh before, but you need to understand my position here." he blinked, then brushed away the tear that rolled down his cheek. "I'm being reviewed for a promotion. We'd be able to do so much more, and I just need things to be a little more calm. I can still-" he made a noise, disgruntled and searching for words. "When your mother died, I promised myself that I would treat you fairly and kindly. I've done neither of those things, and I've broken my own rules." he paused, waiting again.

Still no answer.

"Ever since she died, I've...I feel like I've lost track of what being a father means. I just wanted to say I was sorry for that. There are boundaries I've set for myself, and I said I was never going to do to my own kids what my father did to me." he lay his hand flat on the door. "Johnny? I'm going to open the door now, alright?"

Without a refusal from the other side, a growing, gnawing sense of fear nagged at him. The door opened smoothly for him, slowly revealing an empty room.

The curtain flapped once, as if to taunt him, then stilled in front of the open window.

 

XxXxX

 

Johnny pulled up on his bike, parking on the curb in front of a small house with an unkempt front lawn.

Turning off the motor, he climbed off the seat and headed for the back, rapping a knuckle against the one window with a light on behind it. "Hey, Kitty." he hissed. "You there?" he waited a second, then grinned when he heard footsteps. The window opened and he smiled when he saw her face, blonde curls bobbing around her face. 

"Johnny!" she whispered gleefully. "What're you doing here?"

"Dad's sendin' me to Boot Camp." Johnny made a face. "I'm supposed to go tonight, but I snuck out, wanted to see you before I went. I know this is the first place he's gonna look, I just know it, but I wanted to give you somethin' before he found me."

Kitty leaned against the windowsill, a smile on her face as she watched him pull a small box out of one of his pockets. 

Johnny leaned up, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. "Now, it ain't the fanciest thing, but I just wanted to show you my intentions. I want you to be my forever girl, Kitty. And one day, I will buy you a better one, but for right now..." he held up the box, popping it open so that she could see the ring nestled inside.

It was gold-colored, a green stone set into the top of it, and she gasped when she saw it. 

"You askin' me to marry you?" she bit her bottom lip, cheeks a healthy pink color.

"Course." he laughed. "You sayin' yes?"

"Of course!" she laughed too, drawing him in by putting her hands on his cheeks. When he was close enough, she pressed their lips together, tangling her fingers in the chain of the dog tags he wore. "Yer still wearin' your dad's tags, Johnny?"

He tangled his fingers together with hers. "I forgot I was." with a sigh, he looked out towards the road. "I got a bag packed, babe. I don't want to go to Boot Camp, and I don't wanna be separated from you. My plan was to ask you to come with me, tonight, and I don't know if you wanna go with someone like Johnny Thirteen, but-"

"Oh!" she laughed, then kissed him again. "Yes! Just give me three minutes, I'll be done in a flash!" She moved away from the window, shuffling around her room and throwing clothing into a bag. 

Soon enough, a bag came flying out the window, into the waiting arms of the teenager waiting there. "You ready, doll?" Johnny held out a hand to help her down. "We ready to get out of here for good?"

"Think I'll need a heavier coat?" she asked, one last glance back into her room, frowning at the chipped paint on the walls and the broken mirror in the middle of the worst of it.  
Johnny took her hand in his, leading her to his bike at a jogging pace. "Don't think so, newspaper said that there wouldn't be anything worse than a little bit of rain tonight."

"Let's go start our lives then," Kitty grinned at him, pulling her red jacket a little tighter around her, buttoning it and tucking her scarf into it. "Can't wait to get out of this town. Feels a little too small for us."

He tucked her bag onto his bike, then slid back into the seat, helping her get on as well. "Nothin' truer has ever been said, babe." he muttered as the motor roared to life and they took off.

 

XxXxX

 

Kenneth growled in the back of his throat, annoyance taking the reins as he came to a police blockade in the middle of the road. When he was stopped by one of the other officers, he stepped out of his car, showing off his badge for a moment. 

Nearly brushed aside, one of the other officer's stepped forward. "Let him through, he's one of ours. Besides," the man frowned, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the mangled remains of something with two wheels. "We've got only a little bit of ID on the kids, dog tags found around the boys neck that say 'Kenneth A. Walker', and that sounds like it might be your name."

The anger in his gut was extinguished by the cold wave of fear that crept up his spine. "What?"

"Have you had a break-in recently?" 

"Wha- No, I haven't." Kenneth put a hand over his mouth, looking at the sheet covered bodies laying on the road. "Can I see the boy?"

"Sir, he's not in good shape."

"Please, I just need to know if he's my-" Kenneth's voice seized in his throat, the urge to empty his stomach on the side of the road rising. "I'm looking for my son. He snuck out, I think he may have gone to his girlfriend's home, but she was not there. Her family is waiting for me to return with word, if I find them tonight."

The other officer studied his face, then nodded and led him through the tape around the scene. 

When the sheet was pulled back, Kenneth dropped to his knees beside the mangled body of his son. His fingers dug into the concrete, hard enough to force the nails away from the skin, his eyes clenched shut as tears forced themselves through his eyelids. Eventually, an ambulance came and took the bodies, driving away in silence. Someone led Kenneth to the passenger seat of his own car, taking the place behind the wheel and driving him to the hospital.

Out of the corners of his eyes, the entire way there, he saw the shadow that his son must have seen.

Home was an empty place, echoing hallways that seemed emptier still, the open door of his son's room taunting him from it's place at the top of the stairs. The lights were still on, the shadows flickering around him. 

"I know you're here." he hissed into the darkness. "I don't know what you are, or where you came from, but I believe him now. He saw you, and he tried telling me and I never believed him and now my only son is dead. I have no family left." he pressed his hands against his forehead and groaned. "So how about you leave me alone? Or maybe,"

He took a deep breath. "Maybe just tell me why. Tell me WHY you killed my son, tell me why he had to die!"

Darkness filled the room, glowing green eyes focused on him.

If he stood, they would have been about where his own were, a hulking figure of shadow carved into the darkness. "...My wife told me once that she imagined an unlucky shadow dogging her footsteps." he whispered, going pale at the realization. "I laughed, and then she laughed as well, and I never heard anything else about it. 

"Until my son started talking about a shadow that was following him." 

The Shadow cackled, the sound reminiscent of the squeal of a motorcycle's brakes failing-

Or the brakes of a drunk driver's car as it hit a mother on her way home from work.

Kenneth snarled into the darkness, launching himself off the couch, swinging a fist into the Shadow's face. "You're the reason my family is dead!" he growled the words, turning to where the Shadow had moved to. "You're the one at fault! I should have listened to both of them, I might still have a family left if I had!"

One last swing took him in the direction of the coffee table, his foot catching on the leg. With a sharp intake of breath, Kenneth fell towards the opposite corner, slamming into the wood with a sickeningly moist crunch as his skull broke.

It was less than two hours before he was found, but it was still too late.

 

~XxXxX~

 

"Hey, Phantom, why are you doing this?" Johnny looked at the small pieces of metal in his hands. "I didn't even remember that the thing was once dog tags...It's just been a skull for so long."

"I know." Danny smiled at him, continuing to lead the way. "That's why I had to. I had to give you what I could of the life you once lived." he turned in the spectral air of the Ghost Zone, slipping through it quietly. Beside him, keeping pace on his motorcycle, Johnny followed. One of his hands was curled tightly around the dog tags in his hand, his eyes focused on them through his ghostly skin. "Is Kitty going to meet up with us?"

"She said she had some stuff to do first, but she'd meet us when we passed by Desiree's place." Johnny swallowed nervously, then shook his head, rubbing harshly at his eyes. "I'm a ghost, I shouldn't be crying. Why am I crying?"

Danny pulled back, floating upright as he turned to stare at the other. "There's something you haven't remembered yet. I mean, I'm actually kind of surprised that you haven't, because you've had plenty of contact with him since he took on the job, but hey, it happens that way sometimes." he put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "It's really important, and I still have to find Kitty's memories, as well as a way to get her to have them again."

They started moving again, Johnny letting the Shadow guide his bike. "...Where are we going? All you told us was where she could meet up with us as we went past."

"Walker's prison." 

"...Are you kidding me?" Johnny looked at him with fear on his face. "That guy's thrown me and Kitty into a cell so many times, why are we goin' anywhere near him?"

"Look at the name on those tags."

"...Kenneth A. Walker." Johnny frowned. "That sounds so familiar. Why does that sound familiar?"

Kitty floated up behind him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder as she drifted down into her spot on the back of his bike. When Danny met her eyes, she nodded, a small smile on her purple lips. "Because your name was Jonathan Walker." she sighed. "And you were my sweetheart. We were gonna run away together. Got as far as the main drag outta town."

Johnny looked back at her, confused. "Babe?"

"I've remembered since...I don't know anymore." Kitty pressed her forehead to the back of his neck. "We died when the rubber met the road, your front wheel skidded in a puddle we didn't expect because of the rainstorm we didn't see coming."

Danny stopped the movement of Johnny's front wheel with his foot, pressing against the rubber and smiling at the two of them. "We're here."

"Phantom." came the rough voice of Walker, his arms held stiffly behind his back, his entire posture perfect. He turned to look at the two ghosts in front of him. "Johnny Thirteen and Kitty, one of their most common accomplices known only as Shadow."

"You remember what I told you about?" Danny asked, keeping himself in between the two, his hands raised to defend if necessary. 

Walker turned to look at him, glowing green eyes bright as he studied the Halfa's face. "Yes."

"Good." Danny looked in turn at Johnny. "He was your son. From what I found by going through the death records of a bunch of different places, the Walker family died over a period of about three years. The dad died last, the son only a couple of hours before, and the mom-"

"Mom died in a car accident." Johnny muttered, eyes pinned to the dog tags in his hands. "There was a drunk driver, and he was so out of it that he couldn't react in time. He tried hitting the brakes, but all that did was make it worse. Left me and dad to fend for ourselves." he looked up at Walker, then slipped from the seat of his bike, standing on the step below him. "We had an argument."

"...You weren't there when I went to check on you and apologize." Walker frowned, then held a hand out. "May I see those?"

Johnny held them out willingly, letting the chain pool in the palm of the larger ghost's hand. "I think they're yours anyways, you just let me wear them, you were weirdly proud when I asked to."

Kitty busied herself with her ring, switching it to the ring finger of her left hand with a smile. 

A thick thumb running over the stamped-in letters of his own name, Walker looked up again, the ghostly countenance giving way, revealing a square-jawed man with short blonde hair. His eyes were still the same pools of acidic green they had bee, but it looked less hollow now. "You were my son."

"And you were my dad." Johnny looked back at his bike, frowning at Shadow. "There's something- I don't..."

Walker followed his line of sight, his eyes narrowing angrily. "Get away from him. You're the reason he died in the first place, get away from my son, you son of a bitch!" he dragged Johnny behind himself, an arm out to defend him as best he could.

Shadow cackled noiselessly, slipping out of it's usual form and wrapping around Kitty's neck and dragging her backwards. When it's mouth opened, it spoke in a woman's voice. "Don't you care about your little boy's girl?" Shadow's fangs scraped Kitty's neck, as meaningful as it was menacing. The message was clear: Step any closer and Shadow would consume Kitty's ectoplasm, destroying her entirely.

From behind his father, Johnny was snarling in a fashion that was nearly identical to the older male. "Let her go, what the hell?!"

Claws digging into the ghostly arms of it's prey, Shadow laughed, the gentle voice it had stolen mockingly aimed at Walker. "I was waiting," it snarled, "For so long, for both of you to remember! Feeding off of fear and terror and anger and everything I need when there's no awareness of why you should be feeling those things?"

A couple of Walker's thugs filed out onto the front steps, held at bay only by the motion of a claw against Kitty's throat. 

"Let go of my wife's voice," Walker hissed. "Or I'll-"

"Or what?" The Shadow hissed back, "You couldn't even figure out how to fight me when you were alive. It's what killed you, trying to do something to me in revenge for what I did to your little family, I mean-" it's words were cut off as something bodily slammed into it.

It tumbled, end over end, with whatever had hit it until they fell to a stop against the steps of the Ghost Zone's police station. A flash of a red jacket and a ghostly noose nearly made Danny cheer as he rushed forward to help, pulling the thermos from his belt. "Hey Freddy!" he greeted, aiming it at Shadow's head. "Sidney here?"

"Yessir!" Freddy saluted as Danny pulled the problem into the thermos, twisting the cap closed. "He was just a little bit behind me, we haven't really split up since you fixed things for us."

"Good." Danny looked over to where Kitty and Johnny were embracing, gripping each other tightly in a fear he knew was coming back to them full-force. "I think we should just kind of hang back. Thanks for coming to help when I asked, I was pretty sure that something like this was going to happen."

They watched as Walker stepped forward, a hesitance about him that Danny had never seen before he wrapped Johnny in a tight hug, his other arm reaching out and wrapping around Kitty as well. "I mean, small family put back together for the first time in over forty years." he frowned. "And that's not even counting the weirdness of the flow of time in the Ghost Zone."

Sidney dropped down next to Freddy, twining their hands together. "We'll be here to help explain things to them." he said softly, watching with a small smile as Kitty pressed a kiss to Johnny's cheek. "Heck, even if you need to leave, we can still explain on our own."

"I've got time," Danny smiled. "My parents' aren't expecting my home for a while, and I don't really have anywhere else I need to be right now."

Their conversation drifted off into silence as they watched the family reunion in front of them.

**Author's Note:**

> ...I did not plan for Walker's death to be like that. I'm sorry.
> 
> ...If you got this far, I really hope you actually liked this story. Tell me what you think?


End file.
